PHYSICAL FITNESS FRIDAYS-CAPOEIRA

Posted Jun 04 2010 12:00am

Happy Friday Everybody! Welcome to this edition of Physical Fitness Friday! For the next few Fridays, I have decided to blog about alternative physical activities to try. I think that exercising can become like breathing if you find an activity that you thoroughly enjoy doing. So, I'm going to introduce you to different ways to get and keep that body moving! Some you will be familiar with and others you may not, but I encourage you to learn and try something new! I look forward to this as well because I'm sure many exercises I'll post about I haven't yet tried either like today's pick- Capoeira

CAPOEIRA (cap-WAY-rah)

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form which combines elements of martial arts, music, and dance. It was created in Brazil by slaves from Africa, especially those from Angola, Mozambique and Congo sometime after the sixteenth century. It has had great influence on Afro-Brazilian generations with a strong presence in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

The participants for a circle or "roda" as it's called, take turns playing instruments, singing or sparring in pairs in the center of the circle. The sparring is laced with acrobatics, takedowns and extensive use of kicks, leg sweeps and headbutts. Less often used techniques include slaps, elbow strikes, punches and body throws.

Theories about its origin and purpose range from views of Capoeira as a Brazilian folk dance with improvised fighting movements to a battle-ready fighting form descending from ancient African techniques.

I know this may sound a little intimidating to some, but as I searched the internet I found so many websites and you tube videos with demonstrations with everyday people like us! It is also apparently an excellent workout. MSNBC ran an article on capoeira and interviewed some students which you can check out here .

So, if you are adventurous and like music, martial arts and dance, capoeira is definitely something you should try! There are classes in different cities across the U.S., so if you're interested, go online and see what your city may have to offer!

If you do venture out and try Capoeira, be sure to let me know and I will of course do the same! :-)